Stroll the Flags Over St. Augustine boardwalk, each step a passage through the centuries beneath the very flags that have flown over this Ancient City for over 450 years—from the flag that likely flew on the mast of Juan Ponce de Leon's ship as he explored Florida's northeast coast to today's 50-star Stars & Stripes.

SEE A 16TH CENTURY SAILING VESSEL BEING CRAFTED

Visit our 16th Century Ship building project to see a handcrafted 50-foot caravel rising four stories into the sky! A caravel was used by the Spanish in the 16th century, including by Don Juan Ponce de Leon, who claimed Florida for Spain in 1513, and Don Pedro Menendez de Aviles, who founded St. Augustine in 1565.

As Europe entered the Age of Exploration and began exploring new worlds, caravels were able to traverse unknown coastlines closer to shore than larger ships and travel deeper into bays and rivers.

Boatwrights like ours played an important role in exploration by designing and building new ships, and repairing those damaged by storms, reefs, sand bars, and attack by other ships.

EXPERIENCE HISTORY BENEATH YOUR FEET

Get hands-on with buried artifacts in our dig boxes. Get an intriguing glimpse into archaeological investigations that took place on the very ground you'll walk upon at the Colonial Quarter, real evidence that suggests it might have been the site of an early wooden fort burned in the late 1600s.

The Colonial Quarter is a partnership between Pat Croce & Company and the University of Florida Historic St. Augustine.